Curious' Billing boats Titanic

So , I relented. I finally bought Billing boats' Titanic , and I am extatic

However , newbies should be aware, there are issues!

First : price.I've seen prices in shops and on websites that are outrageous. In Britain prices are around 1000+ pounds , in Holland 1000 Euro's , in Germany a little over 700 Euro's and finally in Belgium where I bought her for a little less then 700 euros.Hint: shop around! !

Second: Mistakes and inaccuracies. Apparently the designer , who worked on her , died mid project. And the website is 2 years old.Hint : if you ever wanna buy her , don't wait too long.

As a result there are some things that just don't wash.Like there is only one propellor shaft added , older kits might be missing bits which should have been lasered and if you want to add lights , you can't very well glue the decking in before you plank the hull.You'll never reach the hole's afterwards. The centerpropellor you are required to be build yourself , parts added of course , but no thanks I'll buy a nice precast one...

There is , and will be more , only time will tell.

Last edited by Curious on Mon Oct 19, 2015 5:59 am, edited 2 times in total.

By the way the orange you see are orange cardboard strips to simulate the plating at the bottom , and the propellor shafts are made from Bamboo bought from a garden center.It was the right size and they already had a hole through and through , the actual metal shaft will be glued in at a later date.

So , Spring has sprung , and things have changed.Since I last posted I got myself a girlfriend , and I haven't got quite as much time for my ship as I used to..Don't mind though , and I still work on it regularly as these pictures will show.So , an update...

The hull has on occasion been a bitch to work on. Despite all my effords to keep it nice and straight it still warped a bit , so I had to take a bit off the fore deck off one side.Paint has been put on..., twice , as the first attempt failed miserably. I used Revell modeling paint , and used marine varnish to seal it.... Take it from me. Don't !!!The varnish has a highgloss finish and it didn't adhere to the paint underneath.

Scraped it all off , and started again , this time with automotive spray paints and it's beautifull!!Used primer in a redbrown color as the main hull color , put on the waterline and then did the black , all in a matt finish ,and I used revell for the weathering.Then I put a clear matt varnish specially for cars in a spraycan on top of that.The white you see on the hull is accually the white primer I used before , still have to spraypaint that , but can't yet as I still need to put the decks on first.And I can't do that till the rudder has been sorted out and lighting has been installed troughout the hull.Gonna use crystal clear resin to fill the portholes so the light can get through , but the water can't (important that) .

Anyway , nuff waffeling , picture time...

By the way , the center propeller is not connected to any motor , and in the instructions it's glued in place , which would cause drag.So I made a "runner" , a small stump that will turn as the ship moves through the water.And the rudder hinge I soldered myself from plans taken from RMS Titanic: A Modelmaker's Manual. The bible if you ever decide to make Titanic.

More to come , if sporadically ..

See you then.., cheers.

Last edited by Curious on Sun Nov 29, 2015 8:34 am, edited 1 time in total.

The rudder has been sorted so there have been sea trials... , so to speak..Uhum,,

I am a bit wurried though , cause I had bricks , hammers and all kinds of stuff in there to get it to the waterline , but couldn't.Appearently there is a Titanic that's 5,4 meters and it wheigs 300 kgs.This one will be roughly half that size , so that will be about ...150 kg???

Anyway , here is the rudder setup.The servo has been put farther up the hull and the connections fairly foolproof , cause once finished I can't ever reach that part of the ship.

And then here's some of the electronics installed.The motors are two truck puller motors installed in such a way that if I ever want to remove or replace them all I need to do is undo the nut on to of the keel , and the nuts on the couplings and it slides out.

That's it , oudah time... more to come later.. cheers , and thanks for the positive feedback..

Scaling volume (displacement) isn't linear, so if your model is half the size, it will be much less than half the weight. The original Titanic displaced 523100 tons, which is about 53,150,000 Kg. If the scale is 1/100, you need to divide by 100 cubed, which comes out at about 53 Kg.

A 5.4m Titanic is about 1/50, so should weigh in at 425 Kg. I.e. If you double the length, you 8 fold the weight.